Environmental activities for workforce development in a rural zone of a job disaster area

The association MEYGALIT (Meygal Insertion Travail) is the fruit of the determination of elected officials, social workers and corporate executives of seven rural communes of the Meygal area, in the Haute-Loire district (at the boundary between Puy en Velay and Yssingeaux), to grapple with the lack of jobs faced with the steadily growing demand identified by the territorial diagnosis on integration by economic activity in the district.

Since the communes aren't always able to care for their small national heritage, the association has based its innovative project on the management of spaces undergoing transformation by sidelined persons having trouble integrating socially and professionally, thereby offering the neighboring populations an attractive living framework which they can fully enjoy.

In the rural areas which lack industry and offer few unskilled jobs, this project will contribute to the promotion of green tourism in the landscapes and the communal heritage of a beautiful region.

The creation or rehabilitation of rambling trails, the restoration of the rural and dry masonry heritage, the enhancement of the historic heritage, the management of natural spaces, communal works and the supply of services, are the environmental activities planned in connection with the integration projects.

This project helps propose 9 jobs in a sector where supply is very limited, particularly for back-to-work jobs.Besides, the outdoor professions have the advantage of providing immediate and gratifying visibility of the value added by the work done, which is even better for a person in a precarious situation and out of work for a long time, than in the industrial sector.